The Polo Club

Sometimes a city conceals its secrets in a place so public that nobody notices. Between Dhaula Kuan and West Delhi, on a forested swathe of the Ridge called Nicholson’s Range lives the Delhi Polo & Riding Club— some paddocks, some stables, some horses, and miles and miles of trails scored through acres and acres of rough jungle.

Here there is pleasure in all seasons: high grass and thick, kikkar forests, the easy rhythm of the horses interrupted by the startled cries of partridges and peacocks. In summer the air is decidedly a few degrees cooler. In winter, the ground mist muffles all but the soft clicks of the mallet and ball from the emerald-green polo fields. Once during the monsoons we got lost, crossing ravines now turned into rushing streams, and trails overgrown with thick Lantana.